Hollywood star Liam Neeson said he knows he can’t “fool the audience” and that’s why he’s done with going out for action movie roles after years in the genre.
During an interview with People magazine, the 72-year-old actor said “it has to stop at some stage,” and because of his age, his years of playing the part in more than a dozen action movies is coming to an end.
“You can’t fool audiences,” Neeson said. “I don’t want Mark [Vanselow, his stunt double] to be fighting my fight scenes for me.”
“Maybe the end of next year. I think that’s it,” he added.
Liam Neeson says he plans to retire from doing action films by the end of next year.
“I’m 72… it has to stop at some stage”
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Neeson has made a career of such high-octane roles like that of a Jedi Master in the “Star Wars” movies, starting in 1999 with the prequel “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” to the revenge movie franchise “Taken” in 2008, followed by the sequel in 2012, and “Taken 3” two years later.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine last year, the movie star talked about the one big action role he turned down in his career and that was the role of 007 back in the 90s after his late wife gave him an ultimatum.
The actor recalled how producer Barbara Broccoli reached out to him several times regarding the role just after Neeson was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Oskar Schindler in “Schindler’s List” (1993).
“I know the Broccolis. They looked at a bunch of actors,” Neeson told the outlet.
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“‘Schindler’s List’ had come out and Barbara had called me a couple of times to ask if I was interested, and I said, ‘Yes, I would be interested.’ And then my lovely wife [Natasha Richardson], God rest her soul, said to me while we were shooting ‘Nell’ down in the Carolinas, ‘Liam, I want to tell you something: If you play James Bond, we’re not getting married.’”
The actor said he would tease Richardson by “going behind her back, making my fingers as though I’m holding a gun, and [humming the James Bond theme].”
“I loved doing that s***!” he said about poking fun at his wife, who died in 2009 due to a head injury while skiing.
“She gave me a James Bond ultimatum,” Neeson recalled of turning down the part. “And she meant it! Come on, there’s all those gorgeous girls in various countries getting into bed and getting out of bed. I’m sure a lot of her decision-making was based on that!”
Amanda Harding contributed to this piece.
